Thirty years ago, Axel Schulz was on the verge of becoming heavyweight world champion for the second time. However, the fight with Francois Botha ended in controversy once again.
In front of 18 million German TV viewers, he thwarted Axel Schulz’s dream of following in the footsteps of the unrivaled Max Schmeling as heavyweight world champion.
However, Francois Botha was not remembered as the glorious victor of the big world championship fight in Stuttgart on December 9, 1995, 30 years ago today. Scandalous circumstances overshadowed the South African’s title win, which was later annulled.
Francois Botha came into play due to George Foreman’s withdrawal
The then 27-year-old Botha had come into play after Schulz’s fraudulent world championship defeat against legend George Foreman. Foreman refused a rematch, and the IBF world title was re-contested between Schulz and Botha at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart. Botha went into the fight undefeated (35 fights, 35 wins), but had not made a name for himself in any major fights. Nevertheless, the legendary shady promoter Don King gave him the chance to become the third heavyweight world champion under his wing at the time: King’s protégés Frank Bruno (WBC) and Bruce Seldon (WBA) were also reigning champions at the time, and King allegedly had a master plan to send them all into the ring one after the other against his most prominent protégé, Mike Tyson.
After Schulz caused a huge sensation in Germany with the Foreman fight, the fight against Botha became a ratings hit, with over 18 million viewers on RTL, surpassing all the fights of boom initiator Henry Maske and the later fights of Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko. Among the celebrities at the ring were Thomas Gottschalk, Udo Jürgens, and gymnast Magdalena Brzeska, while rock legend Meat Loaf was flown in as the musical act.
Bottles flew after Axel Schulz’s defeat
Schulz, who was too hesitant for much of the fight, once again failed to achieve the hoped-for victory, with the judges’ decision going in Botha’s favor. It was not as clear a misjudgment as against Foreman, but Schulz still feels cheated to this day.
“For me, the turning point came during the fight, after four or five rounds, when a coach told me that I was behind on the judges’ scorecards,” Schulz recalled in an interview with SPORT1: “At that point, I was already somewhat desperate at the thought that Don King was sitting at ringside pulling the strings.”
He still doesn’t know exactly what happened, “but in the end, as with Foreman, I had the feeling that I couldn’t win on points. And a victory by knockout: Well, I wasn’t really the killer type.”
The spectators at the venue were angry, bottles and glasses were thrown, injuring, among others, the wives of Maske and Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. It was the reason for the German ban on glass bottles at major events.
Botha later challenged Mike Tyson and Wladimir Klitschko
In retrospect, the fight was declared null and void, as Botha tested positive for the steroid nandrolone, which he tried in vain to justify on medical grounds. In June 1996, Schulz got a third title shot against Michael Moorer, who had been dethroned by Foreman, and then lost on points in an undisputed decision.
Despite the scandal, Botha remained in the spotlight and fought several more big fights: against Tyson in 1999, in world championship fights against Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko in 2000 and 2002, and against the tireless Evander Holyfield in 2010. He lost every time.
Botha, now 56, who also tried his hand at kickboxing in K-1 and in an MMA fight, fought his last professional fight in 2014. This was followed by curious exhibition fights against Uwe Hück, the martial arts enthusiast and head of the Porsche works council.
There was later a reconciliation with Schulz, and Botha even symbolically presented Schulz with the title belt he had missed out on at the time.
“A few years ago, we got together again for three days in South Africa and had a really good time,” recalls Schulz: “The way I see it, he did everything he could to win back then—even unsportsmanlike things. I also tried everything I could, and it wasn’t enough. That’s just how it was. I don’t look back that much; I prefer to look ahead.”